Infinite Sky
by colorsOFtheINFINITEsky
Summary: Sora and Kairi's realtionship is blossoming as it should, but what about the Nobodies who hide in shadows?RoxasNamine SoraKairi Finished!
1. Prolougue

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* * *

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_Are these things we do...sinful?_

_These ways of mine make no sense._

* * *

He felt around on the sandy earth for her hand. Within the moment of finding it, Kairi turned around and stared confused at the boy with gravity defying, brunette hair. Sora was looking intently right back at her. 

"Ka-Kai-ri?"

Sora's hand began to sweat. Kairi wanted to pull away, but was too engrossed in knowing what he was trying to tell her.

"Yeah?"

Kairi drew closer to him. He could feel her soft, warm breath on his face.

"I...um..."

She smiled playfully and squeezed his hand.

With a laugh she said, "Sora, it's okay...I...feel...the same way."

Sora blushed inspite of himself. Once he regained his disposition, he smiled too. That was exactly the response he wanted to hear, the response he'd always longed for.

"R-r-really? You do!?"

Kairi laughed again and he flushed agian, but Sora's smile remained on his face. He then leaned in so close to her their noses almost touched. It was Kairi's turn to blush now.

Sora closed his eyes and breathed in her ear, "I'm glad." And with that, planted a small kiss on her lips; the lightness of it sent a chill up her spine. Kairi was unable to contain herself and pushed into his embrace for more. Sora followed suit and together, they were lost in a passionate kiss.

* * *

"Roxas...Roxas please...please...STOP!" 

Roxas lifted his head from the nape of her neck. He had been so lost in kissing her soft skin that he hadn't heard her at first. Sitting up, he panted a little; he could see she was panting too. A drop of swaet rolled down his cheek.

"What...? What's (pant) wrong...Namine?"

Namine leaned over and clentched her stomach like she was sick.

"I need...to stop...for a minute."

Honestly, Roxas was disappointed she stopped him while he was right in the middle of something, but then again...if they hadn't stopped, they could have done something they would have regreted. He leaned his head back, trying to catch his breath. The sky above them was dark and gray with the presence of storm clouds.

"I think it's gonna rain...," He said changing the subject for the better. Namine automatically turn her attention to the gathering clouds. The sun was almost completely covered by them.

"Roxas," she began and leaned her head on his shoulder,"you know we can't...we can't let them...control what we do."

Roxas put his face into her hair; he could smell the fragrant shampoo Kairi always used. Sora loved that kind.

"How?"

To him the possibility of such a thing seemed impossible. Really, how could they? Nobodies do not feel emotion, so once they are nerge with their original selves, the "original" controlled everything. But this was only becuase they were in existence while Nobodies lived in oblivion. In other words, a false reality created within but seperate from the real world, like it were a phantom place. It was a place like the backwards version of everything inside a mirror, but the inhabitants were more like alter egos than reverse images.

Sadly, the life of such a being was lonely. Roxas and Namine's cases were special in the way that they found their original selves, and those two (ala Sora and Kairi) just happened to know each other. Nonetheless, Roxas and Namine only saw each other when Sora and Kairi were together, so on most occasions, they were apart. Sora and Kairi rarely spent time together anymore for some reason.

Today the Nobodies hoped that that would change.

Namine grasped Roxas's hand and held it to her face. His soft palm was strangely warm against her cheek.

"Sora must be quite happy...," Namine said with a devious smile.

Roxas stroked the top of her hand absentmindedly and replied, "Yeah, actually he is."

The pale, blonde girl pulled her head away from his shoulder and looked deep into his ocean-blue eyes and added, "And Kairi is glad to be with him too."

* * *

Kairi felt a raindrop on her cheek and pulled away from the kiss they were sharing just before it began to pour. 

"Ahhh!" She yelped covering her head. Grabbing his hand, Kairi pulled Sora up off of the sand and they ran back to their boat, laughing and holding hands all the way.

* * *

Roxas pulled a palm tree leaf over he and Namine's heads, but it did little to shield them from the rain. At that moment, neither of them really were concerned about whether or not they were wet. 

"They're leaving!? What for; it's just rain!" Roxas griped standing up. His tone of voice suggested to Namine that he was angry, if he could feel that sort of thing.

Namine chose to remain seated on the ground.

"What the hell!? They always f---ing do this! I can't believe th-"

"Roxas..."

He stopped complaining and looked down at her.

"Just please, stop it," she said hugging her knees, "I...I can't stand it."

Roxas flushed with embarrassment. Truely, he was mad at himself for ever have broughten it up. What was it going to solve? Every time they met, it was always going to end this way. He wouldn't see the on;y companion he had left for hours or days at a time and it would kill him inside, but seeing Namine upset for some reason ate away at his concience even more. Roxas figured Sora must care deeply for Kairi's feelings or otherwise, he himself would not. And he hated it.

"Namine..."

He knelt down beside her and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Namine," he apologized gingerly, "I...just...(he sighed)...don't want to be away form you, you know?"

Namine looked at him and with a half smile said, "And I don't want to be away from you..."

Roxas stood up and reached out a hand to her, "Come on, then! Let's go!" He grinned from ear to ear in the way that Kairi loved that he (Sora) did.

Namine put her frail hand in his strong one and he pulled her up. Together, they walked down the soggy beach, letting the rain drench them from head to toe.

* * *

Sora let go of Kairi's hand and gave a small kiss on the cheek. She blushed with a giggle and kissed him back. 

"Goodbye, Kairi!"

The maroon-haired girl began to run to her house, but stopped and turned around to reply, "Bye, Sora!", and she kept on running to avoid getting anymore drenched than she already was.

Sora, however, stood there in the rain and watched her leave. Oh, how beautiful she looked even when totally wet. He was glad he decided to take her to The Island today to talk to her in private. Now he could go home without a huge shadow of disappointment looming over him, and best of all, Riku would finally stop making fun of him.

The sound of thunder woke Sora from his daze and he made his way home as well. Today had been a good day.

* * *

Namine gripped Roxas's hand tighter as they approached the small wooden dock. Roxas looked over to her; her exprssion was nothing short of disstressed. 

"Namine, what's wrong?" He secretly felt silly for always asking her that, when he knew most of the time what was really wrong with her.

"My stomach...it feels funny." They stopped walking and stood holding hands. Namine gripped her abdomin in agony. She lurtched over like she was going to throw up and nearly fell, but Roxas grabbed her waist.

"Namine...wha-" He was cut off suddenly. What he saw before him struck him speechless, like it always did. Roxas hated this part of their short time together more than anything.

Namine began to fade away.

"Namine!" Roxas yelled gripping for her figure, but his arms ran through the silholette of her body like she was a ghost.

Namine fell onto chest and wept terribly. He could not feel her, but she could still feel him.

"It's not fair! Dammit, it's not fair!" She cried out.

Roxas felt a knot in his stomach; he wanted to hold her, to tell her it was alright. But he couldn't even touch her. She was right...it wasn't fair.

Namine's gaze jolted to his eyes one last time as the last outline of her figure faded away.

"Rox-"

And just like that, like so many times before, she was gone. The worst part was that he didn't know when he would see her again or _if_ he would see her again.

Roxas stood there in the pouring rain and began to feel the sensation of his own self fading. He was going back to the place where he came from, the person whom he sometimes hated more than existence itself.

"Namine..."

A few sort moments later, the beach lay empty. The rain poured out over Destiny Islands without seeming to stop. Sora was sitting at home listening to his music while Kairi prepared dinner for herself. Everything carrried on as usual.

But rainy days are different from any other day. On days like these, the mood is lightened to almost hushed tones, sometimes full of sorrow. Sunshine and blue skys are full of warmth and happiness and the blue ocean above the earth smiles on those days.

Today...

...the sky was crying.


	2. Dreams, Advice, and Intentions

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**_Sorry I haven't updated in forever. Here's the latest chapter!_**

**_-colorsOFtheINFINITEsky_**

* * *

_I want...to feel real._

_I know YOU want it too…._

_I want to line the pieces up. Let's go together!_

* * *

Sora rolled over on his back to stare up at the ceiling. It was about 4:50 in the morning. 

_" _(he sighs) _I wonder what Kairi's doing right now?"_

Then it struck him like a ton of bricks.

"_Well duhhh, she's probably asleep. But I wonder if...she's dreaming about me?"_

He blushed at the very thought of it. Kairi...the girl whom he'd known most of his life, his best friend (well besides Riku), his lover, his comfort, strength...

Kairi...

She was wonderful. Everything he'd been through, everything he'd ever said or done, was always for that perticular girl. Truthfully, Sora knew he would do anything for her, but he also he knew he would never hurt her. EVER. He didn't want that simple, sweet perfection about her to be damaged or broken in any way. That was why he was in love with her.

But Sora decided he hated that perfection sometimes. He felt...like he could never fully get through to her. Like when he did something stupid, she wouldn't be mad at him, she would laugh and smile. Yeah, she called him a lazy bum a lot, but Kairi didn't say it in the way like she was angry. The problem was this: Sora WANTED her to get mad at him. That made it seem like she wasn't trying to hide from him because...well _he_ was fully exposed to her. She could read him like an open book.

Sora moved onto his side to stare out the window above his bed.

_"Yeah...Kairi knows _**everything**_."_

The evening sky twinkled with delight as the denizens below it dreamed soundly...all except for one. And the world _we_ live in could care less about this non-being.

* * *

Roxas sat in the chair Sora's desk, listening to him think about Kairi. It was funny to hear how mushy Sora got over her sometimes, but every once in a while...it was depressing. 

For he never slept, never dreamt. It was not because he couldn't, but because being a creature so close to the darkness, his dreams were_ always_ nightmares.

Sora was beginning to get sleepy and moved about until he was comfortable and then passed out quickly. Roxas continued to sit and watch. What else could he do? Sleeping was a bad idea and he didn't need it anyway, so he sat.

He wondered sometimes if Namine did the same.

Oh, how he missed her. But were those Sora's feelings talking? Afterall, Nobodies can't feel anything.

_" _(he sighs)_ Namine...When will I see you again?"_

* * *

Kairi sat up in bed in a cold sweat. 

_"What...was that about?"_

She wiped sweat from her forehead and panted. Her whole body was shaking and her sheets were soaked with perspiration. As the 15-year-old regained her senses, she began to put into retrospection about what happened.

Her dreams now...they began happy, but ended with dispare. She couldn't figure out why.

It was like this: She would be sitting on the beach on The Island, letting the waves hit her feet, the sunshine soaking into her skin. There was this great sensation of pure joy that would wash over her and the intensity was so surreal. But then, she would feel a raindrop on her cheek.

Kairi would open her eyes and it would be pouring down rain. She wasn't on the soft, warm sands of The Island anymore, but instead sitting on a bench on a dark street. The most distressing part of it was there was always this figure standing under the only lit street lamp across from her with it's back turned. The figure never moved, but stood still and watch the total abyss laid out before it.

She remebered standing up off of the wet bench and always asking it the same question. It was like she _had_ to redundantly ask it.

_"When? When will I see you again? Please tell me Rox-"_

And then she woke up.

_"This is weird...Who is that guy?"_

She rubbed her chin thoughtfully and decided to worry about it tomorrow. Maybe some of Selphie's "famous advice" would help, but she certainly was doubtful of _that_.

* * *

Namine watched as Kairi fell back into a deep sleep. The maroon looked so peachful lying there that Namine chose not to invade her dreams again. Still, the pale girl hoped that her Somebody would understand the dream and spend more time with Sora. 

_"On the other hand...maybe,"_ she thought_, "it's hopeless."_

* * *

**NEXT MORNING:**

Sora couldn't help it: Riku was still always going to be a jerk in some way to him no matter what.

"What!? And why pray tell didn't you tell _me _first?"

Riku threw Sora that devious smile from across the table. The brunette drew back and blushed. He also had a nasty habit of putting Sora in awkward positions.

The two friends were sitting in a favorite teen hangout on 45th Street: Destiny Cafe. It was a lazy day, the kind most teenagers spend in bed or out with their friends. Today it was just he and Riku and Sora was glad he hadn't called Kairi to come along.

"I...um...well, ya see..."

Sora began to sweat.

"Ah, come on Sora, spill it! It want ALL the _juicy_ details!"

He cleared his throat; this was a lot harder than he expected. He was _really _glad now that he hadn't invited Kairi. Having her around would have made this even more difficult.

"I...was...um...on the beach yesterday...with Kari...and-"

"I KNEW IT!"

Riku shouted standing up out of his chair. A few people in the cafe turned around to glare at them. Sora's cheeks got even hotter than before.

"Riku!" Sora wispered through clenched teeth,"Dammit, sit down! Do you want to get us thrown out _again_?"

The silver-haired boy of sixteen folded his arms triumphantly.

"I knew from day one that you had the hots for her! It was _sooo_ obvious after you used to make googly eyes at her all day."

Riku sat down and laughed.

"Did not!"

Sora lowered his head and turned a thousand shades of red. Riku leaned back in his chair.

"Yeah, maybe so...but you did really care about her right? I mean that was all you used to talk about: Kairi, Kairi, Kairi!"

He laughed again. Sora put his head back up to look Riku straight in the eye. Riku stopped laughing long enough to hear what he had to say.

"I did really care about her...I mean I still do, but-"

Sora cut himself off. Riku took the oppertunety to intervene to ask:

"Have you told her yet?"

"...Huh?"

Riku rolled his eyes.

" (he sighs) That you ride pink ponies in Candyland."

"What!?"

"That you love her, dumbass!"

Sora held his breath. Oh boy, he couldn't remember if he actually_ had_ told her yet. Come to think of it, he wondered if she had told him either.

"Well?'

Riku looked like he was becoming impatient, so Sora put it bluntly:

"I started to tell her, but I kinda got all nervous and she cut me off."

"And?"

"Well, all she said was that she felt the same way...so..."

"So neither of you said it, huh? Hmph..."

Sora twidled his fingers. He and Kairi had been enjoying a nice day together without the prying eyes of Riku or the annoying ranting of Selphie. They just seemed to fall right into a moment (though Sora did think about telling her before that) and just happened to kind of reviel how they felt.

"No..."

Riku shook his head; he didn't seem the least bit surprised.

"Sora," he began acting serious,"man, what is wrong with you?"

The brunnette had a confused look on his face.

"Why in the hell wouldn't you tell her you loved her?"

Sora thought about this for a moment, but his brain hurt from all the thinking he had to do to figure it out. So his response came out something like this:

"It happened really fast and I wasn't thinking about it."

Riku cocked his head to one side. He honestly couldn't remember a time when Sora actually _thought_ about what he was doing.

"Anyway...not telling her could be bad."

"Why?"

Sora leaned forward on the table and squinted as if he couldn't see. That was partially true because he couldn't _see _what Riku was getting at. Furthermore, Sora almost knew what Riku was going to say was going to bother him because... it would be the truth.

"Because not telling her straight up how you feel about her, shithead, is going to eventually make her draw away from you."

"Why?"

Riku rubbed his temples.

"Man, you don't know _anything_ do you? Kairi will pull away from you becuase not hearing you say you "love" her is going to make her unsure of your relationship. And she'll either lose interest and date someone else," he began to point out the reasons on his fingers," or she'll act awkward around you and then just break up with you all together. And what worse is she'll probably PMS on your ass until you _do _break up." Riku put his finger in Sora's face to emphasize the last few sentences.

Sora sat back in his chair with a look of pure shock. How did Riku know all this?

"But," Sora began feeling nervous, "I know Kairi; she...wouldn't do that."

Riku folded his arms again.

"Sora, Kairi has had the hots for _you _since she moved to Destiny Islands. She'll probably hold it in at first, but women are all the same. They gotta know or you gotta go. Believe me, I know Kairi too."

Sora lowered his head.

"She'll be lost if she doesn't know, and then-"

Riku didn't say anymore after that. In fact, both boys were quiet for the rest of the morning. The weight of things has a tendency to emit silence out of fear sometimes.

* * *

"No, Kairi, not that one! Try the blue one!" 

Kairi held the silk mini-skirt up to the mirror and grimiced.

"But, Selphie, are you sure about this? I mean this isn't something I would-"

"Hush," the short, copper-haired girl commanded by outting her hand in the air in a stopping motion, "Just...have a little faith in, okay?"

Kairi sigh and walked over to the dressing room to try on the skirt. Though, she could hardly see why anyone would consider a litttle piece of fabric that shows your butt and panty line clothing. Unfortunatly, Kairi was helpless to the might of Selphie's expert shopping skills and (judging by the clothes she chose) her amazing skill to look so gimpy and turn heads for the all the _right _reasons anyway.

She came out of the dressing room with a sour expression on her face. As she speculated, the skirt was so short that it rode up her hind-quarters and gave a perfect outline of her underwear.

"You look amazing; we should _so _get that one and this..."

She held up a danty, polka-dotted g-string making Kairi draw back with disgust.

"Selphie, I'm trying to look good for him, not give him a lap dance at the strip club! Could you be serious!?"

She folded her arms and glared up at the maroon-haired girl.

"Oh, well EXCUSE me for trying to make you look sexy for your new, idiot boyfriend. "Less is more" when it comes to teenage boys' hormones, so I tried to hook you up with a little something that will trun even dimwitted Sora's head. Come on, Kairi, give me a little more credit than that."

" (she sighs again) Don't get me wrong, Selph, I _do _appreciate that you came with me today and all, but...I don't want to wear something that says "rape me in the butt" all over it. I want to wear something glamorous and still be myself."

Selphie put the g-string back on the underwear rack and walked over to the shirt department. She came back moments later with a tube-top like shirt made of a silky fabric that strung over on one side. The pattern on it was ribbons of different shades of blues and it reminded Kairi of the ocean. Or better yet the ocean at the moment she and Sora finally revieled how they felt.

"With that khaki capri you pick out earlier, this would look great!"

Kairi smiled and jumped off of the ramp leading up to the dressing room. She ran up and wrapped her best friend in a hug.

"Thank you for understanding."

"When do I _not_ understand ?" Selphie noticed that Kairi was still wearing the skirt. "Hey, half-naked, how about putting some clothes on?"

Kairi let go of her and headed up to the dressing room with a laugh to put her clothes on while Selphie paid for the shirt. And together, the two girls walked out of the store.

They decided to take a break from shopping and buy some ice-cream. Selphie rumaged through her purse for change while Kairi ordered.

"That'll be $3.50 for lot," the man at the parlor explained. Selphie handed him the money as he asked, "Is that all, ladies?"

Kairi was about to answer when something came over her.

"Um, could you change my order?"

"Sure, what would you like?"

Kairi thought about this for a minute and replied, "Instead of strawberry, can I get...sea-salt?"

The man cocked his head, but went ahead and changed the order. He handed Kairi the ice-cream and change, while telling them to "have a nice day". They walked away and sat by the fountain in the center of the mall to enjoy their treats.

Selphie hit Kairi in the arm as they sat down.

"What?"

"What do you mean 'what'? You, that's what! Why are you aciting so wierd?"

Kairi looked down at the ice-cream she had just perchased.

"I...don't know. All of a sudden, I just really wanted some sea-salt ice-cream."

She had to admit that craving se-salt flavored ice-cream was not like her at all. Sadly, she herself could not understand why she bought it instead of her favorite strawberry ice-cream.

"Selphie, can I ask you something?"

The girl with copper hair took another lick of her chocolate ice-cream and replied, "Sure, what's up?"

Kairi bite into the cold bar, swallow the chunk of icey salt, and continued with, "I had this weird dream last night..."

"What about?"

"Well, it's been happening over and over again each night and it always plays out the same way."

Selphie licked the chocolate bar again.

"You didn't answer my question."

Kairi took a deep breath and explained the situation:

"It starts out nice with me sitting on a beach enjoying the sun."

"Oooo, is Sora there?'

Selphie gave Kairi a devilish smile; Kairi playfully hit Selphie in the arm.

"NO, just me!"

They both laughed. Selphie leaned in closer to Kairi making her a little uncomfortable.

"Well, go on!"

"Um...well, like I said there's sunshine all around. I can feel the rush of the waves and the rough sand underneath me; I feel extremely happy...and then...," Kairi stared up at the ceiling and closed her eyes,"I feel a raindrop on my cheek."

"A raindrop?"

Selphie sat intently listening.

"I'm then in this other place; it's pouring down rain.. There's a boy there...he's standing under a street lamp."

"Are you in the city?"

"Yeah."

"Do you know who the boy is?"

"Well, I kind of do, but...,"Kairi opened her eyes and looked at her friend, "I hear this voice, not my own,but it's asking the boy a question."

"What did it ask?"

"Not it; the voice in the dream sounds like a girl, a very sad girl. She asked the boy to please tell her when she was going to see someone again. I almost heard the name, but then I wake up."

Selphie lean back, "Wow, that is kinda weird."

"It's been bothering me."

"Why?"

Kairi wrapped her now melted ice-cream in a napkin and threw it away in a nearby trash can. She sat down nest to Selphie again and breathed heavy.

"Because the boy in my dream isn't Sora."

"So?"

"So!? I'm dreaming of a boy who's NOT my boyfriend. Weren't you listening?"

Selphie threw her hands up in self-defence.

"Okay, calm down! I get it!"

Kairi hung her head shamefully.

"I'm...sorry. I just..."

"I know. No biggy, just try to relax, okay?"

"...okay."

Selphie placed a reasurring hand on her friend's shoulder.

"Maybe...the dream isn't such a bad thing?"

Kairi looked up, confused.

"Why's that?"

"Well," she began, "maybe it's a sign that...you...and Sora...are supposed to see each other more often. Or maybe it means that you...um...don't, you know, feel so sure about your relationship...?"

"..."

"Kairi?"

* * *

Sora walked slower than usual home today; he just didn't feel the need to rush. His morning had been anything but glamorous for sure. Riku's advice on Kairi was tearing him up inside. 

_"...not telling her straight up how you feel about her, shithead, is going to eventually make her draw away from you."_

"No...that can't happen."

_"Kairi will pull away from you becuase not hearing you say you "love" her is going to make her unsure of your relationship."_

"No, she wouldn't just leave me."

_"And she'll either lose interest and date someone else..."_

"No..."

_"...or she'll act awkward around you and then just break up with you all together."_

Sora held his head like he had a headache. In a sense, the constant mental struggle made his head trob.

"No, no, no!"

_"She'll be lost if she doesn't know, and then-"_

"NOOOO!" he shouted, luckily no one was present on the street but him.

He felt tears come and then slide down his cheeks. They burned something awful.

"... (sniffle)Kairi...she...," he wiped his face and kept walking, "she wouldn't do that to me."

* * *

Kairi began to cry. In a state of panic, Selphie grabbed her friend and try to calm her down. For God's sake, they were in a shopping mall full of people. 

"Kairi, Kairi! Calm down; I didn't mean it like that."

She cried harder and now people stopped to stare, but kept walking when they got the evil eye from Selphie.

"Kairi, please..."

"...but how...why (sniffle)...would..."

"Kairi, I know now that you love him; I'm sorry. I just thought that...you..."

"Selph...he...never even told me (sniffle)...he loved me..."

Selphie gave out a small gasp.

"Wha-What?"

"Selphie...I..don't know if I...love-"

"Shhhh...it's okay."

Selphie let go of the maroon and smiled; Kairi's expression stayed bleek and depressed.

"Oh, Kairi...Sora loves you. Don't worry!"

Her smile was fake but Kairi forced it out anyway. She had to, for the Selphie's sake. Sephie wrapped her arms around her best friend.

"Feel better?"

"Yea-Yeah..."

"Good! Now let's go look for _my _outfit!"

Selphie jumped up off of the bench with a kind of twinkle in her eyes. Kairi admired how fast Sephie wouldn't let a sad moment ruin her mood, so this time, Kairi's smile was genuine. She jumped to her feet too.

"Yeah...Let's go!"

They picked up their things and happily marched over to the nearest store. All the tears were left at the fountain, but it still bothered Kairi a little. Fortunatly, it wasn't enough to take away from a day at the mall with Selphie.

* * *

The wind blew cold rain past his bare shoulders and the intense sensation surged through his entire body like many frozen nittles. It was pitchblack outside that night, but it usually was pretty dark there. Roxas didn't mind the darkness. In fact, he almost _liked_ it. 

Darkness was sometimes better than the light in the way that whenever you wanted to hide, you could go there. That was fine because, Roxas wanted to hide from the light. The light sometimes could be cruel and unforgiving, but darkness excepted you as you were.

Then again...darkness was just as cruel as the light if not worse. It was selfish too. Unlike the light, it was also dangerous and could not be trusted. Roxas didn't blame it for being so picky about who it let in. The light was safe, comforting and it alway did the right thing. Well, mostly whatever it deemed as "the right thing".

Did it not banish the likes of him from its comforting shores as did the darkness? So which one was better?

Neither. Roxas decided a long time ago that neither the light nor the darkness was better than the other. They were both the same.

Still, you _had_ to choose one or the other, right?

That was the only way that one could be in balance.

It was like an unwritten divine law that every being had to either be a denizen of the light or a creation of the darkness.

Roxas wanted to real, to feel emotion whether it were good or evil. He just wanted to know that the things he felt were desires of his own self and not the feelings of his Somebody self. He wanted...to touch Namine and feel emotion for her that wasn't ment for her original self. Somewhere deep inside of himself, he knew she wanted the same thing.

He came to this conclusion:

The next time he met Namine, he was going to inform her of his intentions. Somehow, someway, he and her were going to feel what they wanted...even if it had to be inforced.

_"Screw divine law or whatever," _he thought to himself, knowing the nothingness was listening, _"I want to feel and I won't let those self-rightious bastards of the light and darkness stand in the way_!"

The rain stopped, leaving Roxas's bare back and upper half soaking wet. This did not concern him, nothing much ever did unless it were unwanted feelings for that female Somebody.

Namine didn't deserve that kind of punishment. She was too kind, too perfect.

Roxas fully intended to make things right, to give her what she_ deserved_ to have.

The nothingness around him gave out a silent applause.


	3. Revelation

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_**Again, apologies for not updating quick enough. It takes me FOREVER to finish stuff. Latest chapter for your enjoyment! I promise to finish without looooong delays this time!**_

_**-colorsOFtheINFINITEsky**_

* * *

_I hate it that I can't hate anything._

_Nobodies are those without hearts, but I feel a SOUL in this hollowed shell._

_So...why can't the laws be changed?_

* * *

_"Namine...are you...there...?"_

_"Na...mi...ne..."_

* * *

Every time Sora and Kairi were together, they were together too. But the time they spent at each other's side was more precious to them than to the Somebodies. For it was short and always very depressing. 

Namine knew all to well. There were days when she almost wanted to give up on seeing Roxas altogether, but how could she live with herself? Roxas was her rock, her protection against the forces she didn't understand. All in all she _needed_ him.

Today was one of those days when Namine chose not to think of all of the depressing things in her "non-existence", so she sat drawing in her sketchbook by the water. Like Kairi, Namine enjoyed the ocean too. She loved the way it splashed up onto her feet, engulfed her legs and sent delightful chills up her spine. The ocean in a sense was like her unofficial lover; it always seemed to find a way to please her, make her feel good.

As she sat sketching a nearby palm tree, her eyes were suddenly canopied by darkness, but it wasn't a darkness to be alarmed about. No, it was the playful kind, the kind that only hands give off. Namine held her breath as Roxas bent down and wispered in her ear with his hands still covering her eyes.

"...were you surprised...Namine...?"

What she wanted to tell him was "no, silly, I wasn't surprised" or "you're such a dork, Roxas" , but she ended up just letting out a little gasp of a breath instead. Roxas removed his hands from her eyes and she turned around to face him.

"...uh...did...did Sora just get here?"

She blushed a little.

Roxas smiled sheepishly and nodded, not saying a word but just staring.

Namine turned away from his gaze and exhaled, her breath coming out in staggered whisps. She sincerly hated when Roxas did this to her, but today, he wasn't going to get the best of her! Namine's determination was to beat the blonde-haired swooner at his own game, but she wondered how she was going to pull it off...

"Kairi..., she's been here for about an hour...how come Sora got here so late...?"

She stared off into the distance, keeping her poise elegant and superior as to throw off a guise to the fact that she was totally not the one in control. Roxas reached out and wrapped his arms around her waist; he responded in a ginger tone,

"I don't know...too lazy to get of bed, ya think?" Roxas rested his head on her shoulder and asked, "Why was Kairi here so early in the morning?"

Namine stagger breathed as she responded, "U-u-m-m...she uh...likes...," Roxas put his head into her hair and she could feel his warm breath on her neck,...to come down to the beach...early...in the morning...to...umm..."

Roxas pulled Namine backwards and turned her around to face him; he took his hand and stroked her cheek lovingly.

"R-roxas?"

He put his hands on her shoulders and looked deep into her eyes. Namine was a little shocked, almost frightened; Roxas never acted the way he was now.

"Namine..."

As Roxas leaned in towards her face, Namine put her finger to his lips and smiled sweetly as she asked, "Roxas, what's wrong?"

Roxas gave her a confused look.

"Wrong? Namine, why would anything be wrong?" He half-laughed as he added, "I'm here with you, there's nothing wrong, right?"

"...I...uh guess..."

Namine folded her hands in her lap; Roxas laid his hands ontop of hers. His eyes suddenly looked troubled like he was hiding some dark secret within them.

* * *

(Bonk)..."Ouch, what did I say?" 

Riku rubbed the top of his head as Selphie's glare intensified.

"Don't play innocent! I know what you're up to; you're trying to break them up, aren't you!?"

He tilted his head in confusion and cleared his throat. Riku gave her an sly smile.

"Now, Selphie, why would I want to do that?"

She puckered her face like she was eating a lemon and then slugged him in the head again.

"You're cheeky, I'm-up-to-no-good smiles, don't work on me! You want them to break up so you can have Kairi all to yourself! You're _soooo _selfish!"

"Owe, owe! Stop hitting me! I was just offering some advice!"

"Offering advice is my job, so no more _heart to hearts_ with Sora or I WILL beat the living snot out of you!"

"What's the big deal?"

Selphie narrowed her eyes and glared.

"What do you mean? You don't know?"

Riku shugged; Selphie sighed and shook her head.

"You know, for best friends, you and Sora sure don't share anything with anyone, do ya?"

"Get to the point."

She began tapping her foot in irritation; she was having a hard time deciding how she was going to break it to him.

"Well, Kairi's been acting kinda funny lately and yesterday she started bawling over by the fountain in the mall, saying things like 'Sora doesn't love me' and other stuff like that. So I figureed, since you have a knack for making things complicated, that YOU had something to do with it."

"I plead not guilty. I had nothing to do with it, and besides, I haven't seen Sora since yesterday..."

"Where is he?"

"Dunno; don't care?"

"Riku, how could you say that? I thought you and Sora were best friends!"

Riku rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, I guess, but were not girls, so I don't give a shit, unlike you, if he's lock away in his room crying or something 'cause by tomorrow, he'll be over it. If he wants to act emo and depressed, I say just let him."

"That's terrible!"

"I prefer 'that's life', thank you."

"Oh, you're hopeless, Riku! You'd better hope nothing bad happens between them!"

"SSDD"

"-wha?"

"Same shit, different day."

Selphie turned her gaze to the floor with a hint of worry in her expression.

"I hope so..."

* * *

"Sora, stop; I can't do this." 

"What? Why?"

"Because...because...you...don't mean it!"

"What are you talking about!?"

"You..."

She began to slowly back up. Sora rose.

"Kairi, wha-"

"Say it, Sora...please..."

"Say what, Kairi?"

A tear rolled down her cheek; her heart was breaking...

"Sora, do you love me or not!?"

He stood there, silent, dumfounded, unabled to speak, but wanting to reach out to her with his words. They never came, and before he could do anything, she was gone, running up the beach to her boat sobbing. He lingered, shadows coming over his face. The light of day crossed over into the relm of darkness, and he was powerless to stop it. Before, he thought he knew that he loved her, but now his heart was foriegn to him. It was like something was keeping him from telling her all the things he wanted to, but what was this force between them? Something dark and internal stirred deep within.

* * *

It had happened so quickly that Roxas was taken back slightly. Just seconds before, he was holding her hand, letting the ocean spray caress his face, when he noticed a dark cloud in the distance. The sky began to black and in fear he had reach for Namine and she was gone! She had vanished completely and without so much as a whimper. 

"Namine? Namine!?"

When she didn't answer him, as he expected, Roxas turned his attention back to the forboding cloud inching closer to him. It was black, blacker than anything he had ever seen and for some reason, he was slightly afraid of it. One thing was certain, that cloud had something to do with Namine's sudden disappearence and his gut told him that whatever it was, Sora was the culprit.

Rage was growing, a feeling unknown to him, but he felt it, he FELT IT. It was powerful and he liked it. This was it, his plan could go in full motion, and Roxas knew he could finally get his much desired revenge. He planned to use this newly found power to destroy Sora, for he was the only one in the way of Roxas's dream of being with Namine forever.

"Sora...damn you...damn you!"

Roxas closed he eyes to gather his thoughts.

"Namine, wherever you are, I'll find you..."

Roxas looked back to the sky and saw the dark cloud now overhead. He hadn't realized how ominous this thing was up close. Some strange sensation came over him as he stared into the abyss of that cloud, and by god, he fearlly and hopefully embraced, only thinking of her.


	4. Evidence of Your Eyes and Heart

* * *

_For once, let them sit back and glare in a jealous hatred of how REAL our love is!_

* * *

Darkness was just a natural part of life, right? So why do we fear something that is just as much a part of us as the light? Maybe it's the fear of the unknown, or maybe...it's not darkness itself, but...the things lurking inside...

These were the thoughts of a fading conscience of a fading mind that fell deeper into the relm between ours and _theirs_. This place wasn't a place for non-existence, and again, Roxas felt out of place, but he was getting his wish. The laws were changing, and he was right in the middle of it, but he could feel a change that he did not expect. He felt his sense of reality and morality being raped from him as he traveled into the unknown, searching for his vengance. Roxas's mind was no longer his own but something that belong to the great emotion he so greatly desired. Revenge is like a parasite: it cannot live without a host, feeds on all other emotions, and eventually consumes the host completely. There is no cure for it, no medication to destroy it; it can only be stiffled, slowed down. A force of much greater proportions has to take it away, but could something like that exist with a creature that doesn't have any sense of right and wrong?

What is right...what is wrong...?

Is light the way...or the darkness...or...could it be...

* * *

_"Roxas...Roxas...Rox...as...Wake up, Roxas."_

Sora gripped his head in agony.

_"Rox...as...where...are you?"_

He fell to his knees as the voice got louder and louder and the darkness got closer and closer.

"Who are you? What do you want from me!?"

His question hung on the air, but there was no answer; his stomach hurt, he felt like throwing up, but couldn't.

"What's happening to me...?"

Sora closed his eyes and saw the abyss come into view from deep inside him. This was it, the thing that had been plaguing him the last few days. He reached for it, but it was far away and the closer he got to it, the further away it was, like it was running...or stalking him...hunting him...

"What...is...tha-?"

_"Who are you? Where's Roxas?"_

"What? Who's there?"

_"Roxas...I can't feel him anymore. He's gone..."_

Sora recognized the voice as female, but he couldn't quite figure out who's voice it was.

"I don't get it, who's Roxas?"

He suddenly heard sobbing all around him, but the source was invisible. Sora began to panic, wanting so bad to know what was happening, and being frustrated that all he was getting were questions in response.

"What are you doing to me!?"

_"(sob)...Roxas...Roxas..."_

Then he heard another voice, but it was male, and he was angry.

_"Namine? Namine!? Where is she!? DAMN YOU; WHERE IS SHE!?"_

Sora felt his mind going blank, but he could see a figure coming towards him. It looked human, but it was faint. One thing was certain about it though, it looked like it wanted to kill him.

* * *

Riku sat on the bustop bench and watched the cars go by. In a way, it was more sureal than reality to him; his expression was dark and troubled. The whole world felt like it was going in slow motion. He knew what he had said to Sora was the truth, but was it really the right thing to say? Kairi was missing and Sora was somewhere goofing off. In a way, Riku was mad, but he was frustrated more with himself. Afterall, most of this was his fault, right? He sighed.

"Time to save the day." He smiled to himself. "Ah, like always."

Riku got up and decided to go to the beach to clear his head, and he figured that Sora would be there.

* * *

Sora felt the sand under his kness, and as he looked up, he realized he was on the ground on the beach again.

"What...what the...hell?"

His head no longer ached, but he was still just as confused as before...and he felt like there was this sudden emptiness in him...like...that darkness robbed him of his soul. Sora stood up and brushed off his clothes; whatever had happened to him, all he wanted to do was forget about it. As he walked away, heading to the his boat, he noticed something laying on the beachfront, the waves crashing into it.

Sora stopped to observed the massive object with caution, and he began to wonder if he should go and check it out. From the distance he was at, he saw that it looked almost like a body, and was certainly as big as he was. With hesitaiton in each step, Sora approached the mass.

When he was a foot away from it, he realized that it was indeed a body, and it was a kid. He had blonde hair, and wore strange clothes with repeating black and white patterns; he felt like he'd seen attire like that before. Sora crouched down beside the boy and poked him.

"Hey, hey, buddy! Hey, wake up!"

He twitched a little bit and Sora sighed with relief.

"At least you're alive."

Sora shook his shoulder and the kid moaned as if he were in pain.

"Hey, are you alright?"

"...(moan)...wh...where...am...I...?"

"You're on a beach, and by the looks of it, you had a nasty fall. Where did you come from?"

"Na...N-Na..."

Sora raised an eyebrow, "What? What are you trying to say?"

"Na...mi...ne."

Sora went pale, he suddenly remembered the angry voice and how it was looking for someone name 'Namine'. If this guy was looking for a girl named Namine. then that ment...

"Um...," Sora layed a hand on his shoulder; it was shaking, "Is you name...Roxas...?"

The kid moaned again, but then slightly opened his eyes.

"Hey, is you're name Roxas?" He repeated, a hint of fear in his tone.

He looked at Sora with azure eyes; Sora snatched his hand away.

"Na...," The kid's eye's widened in either surprize or terror, and then he said in a chilly, hateful tone, "S-S-Sora...So...ra...it's..."

Sora stood up, and he back away as the blond kid lifted himself up slowly until he was on his hands and knees. He kept his gaze to the ground, but Sora felt like the kid's eyes were all over him, piercing through him like razors and slicing his insides. The brunnette felt a strong aura of negative energy being emiited from this kid, and he was...afraid; Sora was actually afraid of this guy. He didn't know why, but the strange, blond boy reminded him of that angry figure he saw in the darkness; the pure hate coming from it was intense and forboding. And now the fear he felt, was not of what this kid was going to do to him, but of what Sora himself was going to to, or rather couldn't do...beacuse...he felt like...the anger...was his own...strangely...himself...

"Who...who are you?...What do you want...?"

The kid was silent at first, appearing not to have heard what Sora said, but then began to mumble something under his breath. Sora stood watching, waiting for his next move.

Sora irritatingly repeated, "Who are you!?"

"Y-y-you...it's..."

Sora held his breath as the boy stood erect in front of him, his body swaying as if he were hungover. His expression was dark, and his eyes were clouded with hatred; Sora took a step back as the boy began to stagger toward him. Then it hit him: this _was_ the figure he saw coming to kill him in the vast nothingness; this kid...was...that anger that fueled his fear.

The kid stopped and pointed at Sora and shouted in his face with malice in his voice, "You!" And then leapt, and was on top of Sora without warning.

* * *

Riku had never heard Sora scream before, so it would seem impossible that he could distiguish the loud cries coming from a distant shore as being his. But his gut told him differently; it told him that Sora was in danger, and the time to play hero for real was right now. It also surprised him and somewhat amused him how LOUD Sora could scream, but Riku decided to taunt him about it later.

Right now, his instinct to protct was kicking in, and , of course, he had to act on it.

* * *

She let the tiny vessel bob in the water. Even though she was only aways of shore from The Island, she kind of had no desire to go there.

Initially, she had fully intended to go there, and talk to Sora, but now the closer and closer Kairi go to it, the more she wanted to run back to her room and cry in her pillow some more. Namine watched as she sat there, and sensed her anguish. She too wanted to see Roxas, but also like Kairi, she was afraid of what he had become.

* * *

He threw his fist and socked Sora right in the nose. Sora let out a yelp and used all of his body strength to throw the kid off him; Sora then staggered to his feet and gripped his face in agony. Blood oozed between his fingers. He looked over his shoulder, and the angry blond grabbed him from behind and threw him to the ground.

Then he threw a swift kick into Sora's side which sent him on his back. As he tried to punch him again, Sora rolled to his side and then tackled the blond kid full force, but the blond kid grabbed Sora's arms, kneed him in the gut, and sent him flying with an uppercut to his chin.

Sora found himself on his stomach, tasting sand and blood. He saw the kid loom above him, strong and terrible; Sora knew he'd been beat.

"How do like _that_, huh?" he asked mockingly as he kicked Sora in the side again. Sora winced and spat up more blood. "Answer me!"

Sora lay still.

The blond frowned, "Oh, don't even try to pretend your dead, fuck-face, cause I ain't finished with you yet!"

Sora moaned and coughed.

"Why?" he rasped.

Sora then felt another sharp pain his his side; then the kid rolled him over and was right in his face.

"I'll _never _forgive you for what you've done to her!"

He let go of Sora's shirt and his head slammed back onto the sandy earth; Sora had no desire, but most of all, no strength left to fight back. Seeing, his opponent's inability to fight him off anymore, the kid continued.

"You ruined us...everything we had...It's all because you can't think of anybody but yourselves; you forgot us and now we have to suffer!"

Sora then realized that he wasn't talking necessarily about him, but all of human kind, but that didn't explain...

"R-r-ro...xas."

"What?"

The kid turned and saw Sora, beaten and battered sitting erect in the sand, with blood and grim covering his face.

"I'm...s-s-so-r-r-ry. I...d-d-d-don-n't ev-v-ven kn-n-n-ow-"

He stopped Sora mid-sentence, "You don't know me? Is that it? Are you saying you can't even your own Nobody!?"

Sora didn't respond; he just sat there, his expression blank.

The kid made a round-house kick to Sora head, sending him into the sand.

"At least you remember my name", Roxas said as Sora lost consciousness.

* * *

Riku had gotten about a fourth of the way out to The Island when he saw the boat bobbing in the water. He squinted, and sheilded his eyes from the evening sun, and immediately recognized Kairi sitting there in the distance.

"Hey...Hey! Kairi!"

She looked up from her daze and saw Riku rowing towards her.

_"What's he doing here?"_ She wondered.

As he stopped next to her, she looked up into his haunting, serious eyes and was taken back by them. He moved a stand of silver hair away from his face and flashed that heartbreak smile of his.

"Kairi, what are you doing out here by yourself?"

She didn't answer, she just lowered her head again to avoid his persuasive gaze.

Namine shifted in her seat across from Kairi and stared at the two quizically. One thing was certain about Kairi and Riku that Sora couldn't even contend with: Kairi couldn't hide herself from Riku. Namine grinned and closed her eyes; she concentrated on the maroon and spoke softly.

"I've been worried about Sora and so I came out here to figure things out, and now, I don't know if I can keep going." Kairi then paused surprised at her own voice. Riku raised an eyebrow, but overlooked the sudden wierdness in that sentence.

"So what's really going on?"

Kairi sighed. There was no use in hiding from him now.

"I've just been worried about him."

Riku laid a hand on her shoulder and she looked up at him.

"Then let's go make him talk. Even if I have to beat it out of him, he'll talk."

She grinned from ear to ear.

"Riku, I-"

He held a hand up, "Don't thank me, yet. We still have to actually get there."

"Yeah, let's go..."

* * *

The breeze was cool and light, not warm and thick like it usually was on a hot summer day. It signaled the coming of the night parties with friends and walks on the shore with unforgetable summer romances. As twilight began to fade, Roxas thought of Namine again. He still hadn't seen her, and beating Sora up didn't help much.

Nevertheless, he decided that what's done is done, and Sora had it coming anyway. Roxas sat down in the sand and hung his head.

"Well, now what do I do?"

Now that he had beaten Sora to a pulp, he was stranded out here on this godforsaken hunk of dirt in the middle of the ocean. Sora, the spaz, had forgotten to tie his boat down and now it faded off into the distance with the setting sun. Roxas wondered how he ended up being the Nobody of a moron like that.

But all seemed no to be lost after all, because Roxas noticed something he had not before. Along with Sora's disappearing vessel, there were two other boats coming towards the island form the opposite direction. Roxas stood up and squinted against the last of the sun's rays and saw that reinforcements were coming in.

"Shit!"

He ran across the beach and ducked underneath the pier. As he knelt down in the icy ocean water, he waited and watched as Riku and Kairi approached.

* * *

Riku waded through the water and jumped up on the pier. He tied his boat down with and expertly crafted knot and then helped Kairi tie hers down.

"Well, we're finally here...Where's whats-his-face hiding I wonder?" Riku jumped off the pier and squeezed the water out of his shorts. Kairi appeared next to him.

"You know, I thought he was here. I mean he wasn't at his house or anything..."

She shielded her eyes and let them wonder across the beach. Riku looked up at her; he was about to suggest Sora was hiding in a palm tree, but something more interesting...or rather...more beautiful caught his attention.

As the sun set behind her, it's golden light flooded over her young and almost flawless features. Crimson fire fell around her shoulders, and it seemed to dance in the light breeze. Riku had noticed it a hundred times before, but every time he was awestruck. Kairi was truly gorgeous.

Riku had always thought Sora was clueless, but when it came to Kairi...He was just plain _stupid_. Kairi was probably the most sought after girl in the Destiny Islands. He had to admit that he had fallen for that natural loveliness of not just her looks but her golden personality. The things Sora did to upset her made him want to lash out sometimes, but he held it in for her sake.

Kairi loved Sora, that was certain, but...if Sora didn't love her back...Riku decided that he would punch his lights out. Even though, their relationship was really none of his business, the thought of Kairi being miserable was unbearable. After all, he thought that...maybe...he himself still...

"Kairi...?"

She looked at him with tender blue eyes and asked, "What?"

"I..."

She tilted her head in confusion. Then her eyes moved away from him and drifted to an object lying on the shore.

"Hey, what's that?"

Riku snapped out of his trance and turned his attention to the object she was talking about. She began to walk towards it, but Riku grabbed her arm.

"What a minute; what if it's animal or something?"

Kairi shook her head.

"It doesn't look like an animal," she squinted and then gasped, "I thinks it's a person."

She slipped free of his grip and ran up to it. At fist he watched her go, feeling stupid for babbling nonsense.

"Riku, c'mon!"

He ran after her.

* * *

Roxas watched them run up to Sora and heard Kairi scream in horror. They knelt down beside Sora's unmoving body and Roxas decided that now was his chance to steal one of their boats. He would figure out where to go later.

Like an shadow, he crept out from underneath the pier and began to undo one of the knots keeping the boats secure. It proved to a little difficult to undo.

"Damn, this thing's tight!" he exclaimed to no one in particular.

* * *

Riku lightly smacked Sora on the face.

"Hey...HEY! Wake up; wake up, sleeping beauty!" Riku sighed heavily, "It's no use; he's out cold."

"Who could have done this to him?"

Riku stood up and rubbed the back of his head like he was in pain.

"Well, whoever they were, they sure did a number on him."

"I can't believe someone would do this to him."

"Yeah, but he must have had it coming."

Kairi shot him an dirty look.

"Don't say things like that! What if he has life threatening injuries!? I hardly think that its a time for-"

She stopped suddenly and an expression of pure terror replaced her angry demeanor. Riku raised an eyebrow at her.

"What are you-" His words were suddenly cut short when his icey-blue eyes saw what she was looking at. There, across the beach, hunched over their boats on the dock was a figure, not large in size, but intimidating nonetheless. Kairi stood up and touched Riku's arm.

"Riku...is that...?"

He held a hand up to silence her and she held her breath. She felt his muscles tighten and his breath quicken. The figure appeared not to pay any attention to them, but it didn't seem to know that they knew it was there. Kairi saw a bead of sweat role down Riku's cheek, and she grabbed his hand. He looked back at her.

"Don't you even think about getting the jump on him. That's just reckless. You saw what he did to Sora, what if he's got a weapon or something?"

He smiled at her concern.

"Yeah, but we can't just let him get away either." Riku turned to the figure again. "We gotta catch him."

He bent over and before she could stop him, he was sprinting towards the oblivious figure.

Roxas felt an enormously strong pressure on his shoulder out of nowhere, and then he found himself on his back. He quickly flipped over on his stomach before the assailant could grab him again; he lept off the pier and rolled into a hunched position a few feet away.

Across the way, he could see Kairi petrified standing next to Sora's body. Then it him him that he was caught, found out. He slowly rose to his feet.

* * *

Riku felt his heart skip a beat.

"N-n-no...way..." He went pale in disbelief. Clencing his fist he exclaimed, "That's just not possible!"

The figure rose to his feet and turned around to meet Riku's gaze with cold azure eyes.

It had been about six months since they banished the Nobodies back to the darkness and returned home at last, but Riku still vividly remembered the events like they had happened yesterday. He recalled the moment when Kairi and Sora had met and reunited with their Nobodies at last.

And...he also remembered his own history with Sora's Nobody. The searching, the defeat, the...choking darkness. His heart had never recovered from being the the dark realm for so long, and now that an esssense of the madness from back then stood before him, he felt courage waver.

"You...how...? How are _you _here?"

At first it didn't answer, but continued to stare.

"Answer me!"

The Nobody smiled devilishly. "Long time no see...Riku."

"You...you're...Roxas...Sora's Nobody."

"Bingo."

"This isn't possible; you disappeared after you met Sora. The Nobodies and the Organization have been banished back to the darkness! You shouldn't be here!"

Roxas shook his head and laughed. "See, that's the funnny thing about Nobodies. We are but we aren't. We exist but we don't. Completely backwards...completely...unpredictable."

He jumped in the air and onto the dock. Riku backed up a few steps.

"You can't catch a shadow."

* * *

Kairi watched the specticle unfold from her original positon nest to Sora. She watched helplessly as...Roxas...and Riku began to fight each other. They seemed to be evenly matched, but she knew she had to act quickly.

_"But what do I do...?"_

She wanted to cry; the overwhelming feeling of being totatly useless to help Riku was almost too much to take.

_"...Kai...ri...Kairi..."_

She rubbed her forehead. "W-what...?"

_"...Listen...to...me..."_

"Huh...who-"

"Please, you must listen to me."

The voice was so loud next to her ear that she jumped. Kairi looked in the direction of the voice and saw a pale, blonde girl standing next to her.

She hestitated at first, but then asked, "Who...are you...?"

The girl smiled sweetly. "You know who I am. Just think really hard about it; you'll remember."

Kairi was going to protest but instead asked, "Is...your name...?" She tilted her head to one side, "Your name is...Namine."

"Yes, Namine, your Nobody."

"I remember you now; we met in The World That Never Was before Sora and Riku defeated the Organization leader."

"Precisely."

Kairi put a hand to her chin. "But why are you here now? Is there something wrong?"

Namine's expression turned grim and she responded, "Sadly, yes. You see, there has been...some...trouble with Sora's heart lately."

"Trouble? Tou mean the reason he's been acting so wierd is because there's something wrong with his heart?"

"Not only that, but it seems that...his soul...has been affected by it on a very grand scale."

"How?"

"Due to the way that Sora has been neglecting to attend to his emotions, he has been feeding a flame of hatred deep inside of him, and his soul...his Nobody, Roxas...has use it as a portal of darkness to ultimately manifest himself in your world."

"Whoa...but that means that it was Roxas who beat Sora up?"

"Yes, as an act of revenge."

Kairi absentmindedly held a hand up to her heart. "Revenge...but why?"

"I...have an idea, but..."

"But what?"

Namine took a deep breath and looked Kairi right in the eye, "I think it has something to do with me."

"You? But if you know why he's doing it...can't you do something to stop him?"

"I...don't know...Really, it depends."

"On what?"

Namine flushed a little.

"Well, how do you really feel about him?"

"Huh...? I'm sorry; I don't really understand what you mean."

"Do you...do we...?" Namine sighed, "Do we really love them?"

Kairi was silent but then she smiled and blushed.

"You should already know the answer to that."

Namine giggled and smiled too.

"Yes, of course, I supposed I just needed some reassurance."


	5. Infinity, Now and Forever

* * *

I was just going to make a third chapter and an epilogue, but it ended up being a lot longer than I thought, so I had to make another chapter.-_**colorsOFtheINFINITEsky**

* * *

_

_Even if it's pretend and dammit if it hurts like hell, let's love each other._

* * *

Roxas grabbed Riku's arms and flung him on his back. He then loomed over him and mockingly laughed.

"Is that the best you got? Face it Riku, you're just as weak against me as you were before."

Riku gritted his teeth and pushed himself off the ground. Roxas stopped laughing and shook his head.

"I...(pant)...won't let...(pant)...you get away with beating...(pant)...Sora up."

"Oh, that? You're freaking out over that!? He had it coming."

Riku threw a punch and Roxas smoothly dodged it.

"Try all you like, but you _have _no hope of defeating me."

Roxas did a roundhouse kick to Riku's stomach, knocking the wind out him. Then he went down and knocked Riku off his feet with a quick kick to his shin.

"Hmph."

Riku lay on his back and mentally cursed himself for not being able to avenge his friend. Was he really going to just let this guy beat him? The Riku from long days past was invincible, unstoppable, so what was the big deal!? Why couldn't he get a even a punch in?

He stood slowly and with his back turned asked, "Why Roxas...?"

Roxas folded his arms over his chest.

"Why what?"

"Why now...why have you come back _now_?"

Riku turned to face him, icey-blue eyes fixed with an intense gaze.

Roxas glared with frustration. He knew that Riku knew nothing about what Sora was doing to Namine, hell, to both of them, but he didn't see how it wasn't completely obvious.

"You really don't know? Are you _that_ naive?"

"What are you talking about?"

He groaned.

"Oh gimme a break! You can honestly tell me that you haven't noticed that something was wrong with Sora, that he was up to no good!?" He clentched his fist so tightly that his knuckles turned white. "Sora's the whole _reason _I came here! I came here," he paused and then sighed to release some of his rage, "to make Sora pay for the torment he put me through...for being selfish enough to stop seeing Kairi...for making it so now I can't see Namine."

"Namine? Is Namine here too?"

Roxas turned his gaze away.

"For all I know...she's dissappeared forever."

Riku shook his head. "That can't be right; why would she dissappear? Kairi's still here so-"

"How the hell should I know?"

"So you mean to tell me that you came here to exact some kind of revenge on Sora because you think he possibly had something to do with Namine's sudden vanishing act? Oh, please. Sounds like a really reckless and _stupid_ idea to me."

Roxas growled, "Why you!" ,and lunged at Riku who got out of the way just in time.

_"Alright! Now we're cookin'; got my old mojo back!"_

Riku tackled Roxas and pinned him to the ground.

"Ha! Now who's the weak one?"

* * *

Namine walked past Kairi and stood staring at the two brawlers on the pier.

"I don't know how he got...like this." She hung her head shamefully. "Maybe I too am guilty of neglection. Roxas was a ray of light in a world overrun by shadows, but now it seems like the light in him has faded."

"Or it's hiding."

Namine turned to look at her.

"Perhaps, but...where is it?"

Kairi pionted to Namine's chest. "I think it's probably in there."

Namine looked down and held a hand over her bosom, puzzzled.

"In...there...?"

"Yeah, in your heart."

Namine met her gaze again and shook her head.

"Need I remind you that we Nobodies do not have hearts?"

"Well, how can you love someone...if you don't have one?"

"I feel whatever emotion you feel. That is the curse of being a Nobody: Not to have any emotion to call one's own."

"That sounds terrible."

"It is...how things are."

Kairi sighed, "That doesn't make it right. I mean, I might not know everything about the universe, but I think that maybe you don't exactly feel what I feel...maybe I _share _it with you, you know?"

"Share?"

"Yeah, like whenever I go to sleep at night, I'm not feeling any emotion specifically, but you might be awake feeling worried or sad about something. We're connected because you _are _me, but I don't think that I govern everything you do."

The pale girl grinned from ear to ear.

"I think I see what you mean. I have my own actions which I think about doing, so perhaps if I think about what I want to feel, then I could, right?"

"Exactly; you control you! I may slightly influence what you do and feel, but you probably influence my life just as much. Nobodies seem to be just as complex as their Somebodies."

"My thoughts exactly."

* * *

Roxas flew through the air and landed on the sandy earth with a _thud. _Riku jumped off the pier and tried to grabbed Roxas again, but the blonde dodged his attack by rolling to one side. He tried to counterattack, but Riku was too fast for him. Roxas felt his nerve slipping.

As Roxas stood up again to defend himself, Riku come up from out of nowhere and socked him right in the face. Roxas went down and held his face in agony.

"You ain't so tough! You...you...Huh?"

Roxas moved his hand away and a trickle of blood oozed down his cheek from the gash on his temple. He touched his head and grimmaced at the sting of the raw wound.

"Whoa...that can't right. Nobodies can't...bleed."

Roxas looked down at his hand and saw cuts and brushed he'd paid not mind to before, well, because he _had _never had cuts before. Since they were shadows, not living things. They didn't have a heartbeat, so they couldn't pump blood.

"Blood...? But that means that I-"

"Roxas!"

"Huh?"

Bare feet dashed down the beach towards him like ligtening. Hair the color of pale morning light flashed behind the pretty face of a young girl, only fifteen. She seemed to float there, along the water's edge like an angel ready to take flight. And in reality, she was an angel, his angel. He felt his breath stop short at the stunning sight of her.

Innocent and lovely, she seemed to have fallen from heaven and was like a ghost from a dream. But he wasn't dreaming. No, this was real; this was not the temporary mirages that the almost meeningless meetings always turned out to be! This was the evening sun illuminated and lifting the dead rays of light from his darkest nightmares and manifesting them to him in the real...and touchable...form of girl.

Namine.

* * *

Roxas forgot all other things in that moment, for nothing else mattered anymore.

Namine stopped in front of him and fell into his waiting arms.

"Roxas...Roxas..."

He held her tightly.

"Na...mine...I can't believe that...it's really you...you're real."

She started weeping.

"I thought I'd never see you again..."

Roxas put his face next to hers and breathed softly into her ear, "Namine, I thought I'd lost you too...but you know something?"

Through sobs she mumbled, "What?"

"I'm not going anywhere."

She pulled back form him and he whiped a tear rolling down her cheek away. She smiled and touched his hand.

"Me either."

* * *

He tried in vain to open his eyes, but only manage to get one open because the other one was badly swollen. Sora moaned with pain which caught Kairi's attention.

She gasped. "Sora!"

Kairi bent down next too him and helped him sit upright. He tried to smile but failed.

"Oh, Sora, I thought you had a concussion! I'm so glad you're okay."

He moaned again. "Define okay."

She frowned.

"You're no better than Riku, joking about how badly hurt you are! You had me worried to death that you were going to have to go to the hospital, but now I see that you weren't really knocked out at all. You probably used your beating as an excuse to take a nap, you lazy bum!"

Even though he couldn't physically smile, he was grinning on the inside. It was wonderful to hear her scold him like she used to, just because he loved to hear her voice.

He reached out and touched her shoulder. She looked at him and smiled.

"You look terrible."

"Thanks."

* * *

Riku plopped on the ground and leaned back with a sigh and watched as Roxas walked off to stand by the beachfront. Namine got up to join him.

"Well, I give up. This day just keeps getting wierder by the minute."

Namine looked in his direction and asked as she stopped, "What do you mean?"

He rubbed the back of his head because it really did hurt this time.

"Well, for starters, you popping out of nowhere."

"Sorry," She looked back at Roxas whose attention was completely turned to the crashing tide, "but I had to break you two up."

"Are you telling me that you wanted so badly to stop the brawling, that your strong ambition made you appear in this world?"

"Exactly."

Riku grinned. "Like I said, I give up."

Namine laughed.

* * *

"Heeey! Can I get some help over here!?"

Riku looked in the direction of the frustrated voice and saw Kairi helping a beaten and battered Sora limp over to where he was sitting. He chuckled under his breath at the sight of them, but got up and walked over to give Sora a little more support.

"Hey, beaten-beauty, how ya feelin'?"

Sora gave him an angry glare with his one good eye.

"Fine until I saw your ugly mug."

"Speak for yourself...," Riku muttered under his breath.

"What's that!?"

Riku smiled with a mischeivious look in his eye.

"Nothing _beautiful_, chill out."

* * *

Roxas felt Namine grab his hand suddenly, and it sent a surprising, but welcome tingle up his arm. He grinned.

"Roxas...?"

He looked in her direction.

"Yeah?"

She squeezed his hand.

"I'm...I'm glad I found you again."

Roxas released her hand and wrapped his arms around her.

"Namine...What happened to you? Why did you disappear?"

She leaned her head against his chest and listened to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat.

"I didn't disappear, Roxas. I..."

She bit her bottom lip as she searched for the right words. He buried his face in her hair, taking in the familiar smells of sea salt and strawberry-kiwi shampoo.

After a moment of brief silence, "Roxas, when...you got angry at Sora..."

"Yeah?" He leaned his head to the side so he was looking at the ocean.

"You know how the darkness in someones heart can open a portal?"

He didn't respond.

"Well...that blind rage you felt caused you to materialize in this world because the feeling was so strong. And I...got here...because of the strong feelings inside of me..."

This time he responded as he pushed away from her and looked her in the face, "Feelings? Namine, we're Nobodies. What feelings?"

She hung her head, as if ashamed by what she was about to say .

"Sometimes, when a strong person loses their heart, a Nobody is formed along with a Heartless. It's the same concept with the strong _feelings _of the heart. You see...emotions give off their own separate energies, so like a person's soul they can manifest themselves."

Roxas shook his head as if he understood, but in reality, he was still confused. She continued:

"Sora had already produced a Nobody, and since you did not fade back into darkness, your essence lived on in another _demension, _so to speak. This Nobody, you, gave off such a high level of energy by the emotions that he felt, that it caused him to open a portal, not necessarily a dark one, in which he came into the real world."

"...Wow...So the energy from the rage I felt helped me to get here!? But wait," he began, "you got here the same way?"

Namine bit her lip again and blushed.

"So that means...I _used _an emotion of my own free will? How's that possible; doesn't that go against the laws that Ansem the Wise made up?"

"Uh-huh."

"What, he was wrong about all that stuff he said?"

She put her hands behind her back and rocked on her heels nervously.

"Kind of, but really, he just made a miscalculation."

Roxas held a hand to his chin thoughfully and smiled at the extent of her knowledge.

"Wow, Namine, how do you know all of this?"

She smiled at his complement inspite of herself.

"I read his reports...even the secret ones where he discovered things about Nobodies that he hadn't seen before."

"Hmm, I guess Nobodies are more complex than people thought."

"I guess..."

Roxas bent down and moved his face closer to see her face better. She turned a thousands shades of red.

"Hey, Namine, what's up? Why are you...blushing?"

She swallowed hard but didn't answer.

"Is there something you wanna say?" he asked raising his eyebrows.

Namine finally lifted her head. Her face was red, like she'd spent to much time in the sun, but Roxas knew better. Namine was pale; her skin was a creamy white, like she spent too much time underground.

"Aren't you curious to know how I got here?"

She looked genuenly hurt that he hadn't asked about it.

"Oh...right...well, how _did _you get here?"

"The same way as you; a strong emotion brought me here."

"What was that?" he asked with a sheepish grin.

"Worry," she responded sarcastically.

Roxas embraced her in another hug and she gladly excepted it.

"I don't think that _rage _was the _only _thing I was feeling..."

She giggled.

"I felt something...but I can't put it in to words."

"I know what you mean, things like that can never be expressed by words alone. I think...you just have to put it in to action to _really _get the point across."

She hugged him tighter.

"I couldn't agree with you more."

* * *

Kairi felt a rush of cold night air envelope her and she shivered.

"You okay, Kairi?"

She looked over at Sora, who was getting helped into her boat by Riku.

"Yeah; it's just really cold out here."

Riku put Sora's legs in the boat.

"I think I could go for a loooong hot shower and cup of coffee right now," Riku said with a sigh.

"I couldn't agree with you more," she responded.

Sora sat up in the boat and almost knocked Riku off balance.

"Well, _I _could got for a painkiller right now," Sora said rubbing his swollen eye.

"Okay, whiney, we're going."

Kairi climbed into the boat with Sora as Riku untied their boats. About fives minuted into roaring back to town, Kairi asked, "Hey, guys?"

They both looked at her adn she grinned at their quick attention.

"What happened to Roxas and Namine?"

Riku and Sora looked at each other with confused expressions. Sora was more confused than anyone.

"Who are Roxas and Namine?" he asked, seriously not knowing.

"You don't know?"

Riku looked over at Kairi. She shook her head, "Your assailant and the girl he was looking for, remember?"

Sora thought about this for a moment and an oh-yeah-I-knew-that look washed over his face. He leaned back in the boat and closed his eyes.

"That kid...did he ever find her?"

Riku smiled, "Yeah, actually, he did."

Kairi stopped rowing suddenly and carefully crawled over to him and nestled beside him with her head on his chest.

"And you know what he discovered?"

Sora flushed under his bruises and asked, "No, what?"

She entwined her fingers into his.

"He discovered that he never lost her in the first place."

Sora smiled and squeezed her hand.

"Well, I'm sure he knew that, but he let his stupidity get in the way of how he really felt about her."

Kairi sat up on her elbow with a hopeful look in her eyes.

"From the beginning, he knew he would now and forever, love her."

She smiled and leaned in close to him, but before she could kiss him, Riku shouted, "Oh, come on you guys, get a room!"

Kairi looked up to a disgusted Riku rowing away with a sour expression.

"Okay, whiney, we're going," Sora responded mockingly.

"Oh-ho, you are _really _pushin' it. Move some tail or I'm not helping you out of the boat, gimpy."

Kairi moved back over to the oars and started rowing to catch up with Riku.

The smile never left her face.

* * *

**Two Months Later...**

The school year started out slow, as usual, but the good news was Kairi was now a sophmore, and she was goin to her favorite class: English. It was also really cool that Riku was taking independent study in that class.

As the bell rang, Kairi rushed to her seat before old Mrs. Chiriro noticed. One thing about that old bird was: she couldn't stand tardiness and would condemn anyone who was even a few seconds late.

Kairi let her breath catch up with the rest of her before she took out a crisp, new notebook to take note with. She looked over at Riku who sat reading a romance novel while the teacher blabbed on annoyingly about classroom rules and such. He put the book down and noticed Kairi looking at him.

Kairi mouthed the words 'How is it?'. Riku stuck his finger in his mouth and made a gagging noise. She giggled but stopped and sat straight forward when she heared a grumpy 'ah-hmm' from Mrs. Chiriro.

"And moving on, Rule #24 states that pupils of _my _classroom must be nice to any and all new students no matter what." She then walked over to the door and set a bony hand on the knob. "This now brings me to the next order of business and Rule #25. 'All students are welcome in this classroom as long as their number one priority is English. Class, please help me welcome our new student," She open the door and a few girls gasped in delight, "Roxas."

Kairi held her breath and looked back at Riku. He was staring in disbelief, but he acknowledged her with an honest shrug. She turned back to the front and noticed Roxas walking towards her.

He paid her no mind as he took the seat behind her. Kairi swallowed hard.

"Didn't see that one comin', did ya?"

Kairi turned around and looked at the boy with gravity-defying blond hair.

"In any case, if you're wondering, Namine's here too and another thing: You have to realize that Nobodies, like the sky for instance, are infinite and extremely unpredictable."

He grinned devilishly and then took out a pen to copy down the notes on the board. Kairi truned around and rubbed her temples, then began to copy the notes herself. But her mind was elsewhere.

She was thinking, that at that moment, the possibilities like sky or Nobody, were infinite as well.

_"This year's definitely going to be...interesting," _She thought nervously to herself.

* * *

This story was based off of a poem I wrote about Roxas and Namine which is posted on Starlite . The name of it is 'Robotic Romance', so check it out! Please, R&R!-**_colorsOFtheINFINITEsky_**


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